


Cassiopeia

by BitterSweetJenn



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Anxiety Attacks, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-10-16 14:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17551505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterSweetJenn/pseuds/BitterSweetJenn
Summary: The tale of Daniel Howell, a ballerina with big dreams who auditions for a new Ballet on the West End, and how he meets his idol Phil Lester, one of the most famous and award-winning ballerinas who just so happens to see the spark in Dan that nobody else does.





	1. Everyone Starts Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! if you saw that artwork dan liked on Tumblr, this is probably how you're here! And thank you! This is something I've been working extremely hard on recently, and I hope you enjoy it because I love this idea so much that I just had to write an entire story about it... and maybe more soon... stay tuned to see more very soon <3 -Jenna

It was like watching feathers dancing in the air, or swans gracefully swimming across crystal waters. Watching ballet for the first time at the age of five made Daniel fall in love. Viewing from the railing of a Royal Box in the theatre his grandfather owns, Dan watches intently as the dancers glide smoothly and manage to not fumble a single step, synchronised and trained flawlessly. 

 

Daniel knew in that exact moment that this is what he wanted to do. Daniel wanted to be a ballerina.

 

Following the performance, Dan helped his grandfather tidy up behind the curtain, putting away props and costumes that may be used for the next show, or doing a bit of sweeping along the walls. 

 

“Grandpa, could I use the stage?” Dan asks softly, standing next to his grandfather as he adjusts the large red curtains. With the theatre now completely empty, his grandfather chuckles and pats Dan's head softly.

 

“Of course you can. It’s all yours until your mum comes to get you,” he replies happily. Dan smiles wide and hugs his grandfather’s legs tightly before running out into the middle of the stage. 

 

The worn wooden flooring beneath his feet creek when he mimics how the ballerinas were presenting themselves before they launched into the leaps and spins. He imagines the music playing, being accompanied on the stage by another dancer, with every seat filled in front of him. 

 

Suddenly, Dan begins. He twirls and happily prances around the stage, trying his best to copy how the pretty ballerinas danced, carefully lifting his arms into O shapes and spinning.

 

“You dance very well,” a female voice echoes through the empty theatre, catching Dan off guard and stopping his dream performance. He quickly spins around to meet eyes with the pretty woman who was leading the other ballerinas in the dance. Dan grins happily at her remark. 

 

“Thank you! But I don’t think I'm as good at dancing as you are, ma'am,” Dan says. The woman giggles and kneels down to look at Dan properly. 

 

“With a bit of practice, I’m sure you could go really far,” she says kindly. 

 

“You really think so?” Dan asks, looking down at his feet and noticing her pretty pink ballet shoes, feeling a little shy now. 

 

“I really do," she responds. She then pauses for a moment before asking Dan, "Hold your hands out.” Dan holds and cups his hands in front of him warily. The ballerina then reaches up to her hair, carefully unclipping a hair clip from her hair and placing it in Dan's hand. The clip has long black ribbon made into a bow, and a snowflake made up of tiny little crystals glued in the centre. It makes Dan's eyes glisten with wonder.

 

“Hold onto your dreams” she smiles. Dan grins and hugs her tightly as a thank you.

  
  



	2. Caught in a Landslide

Dan sits and waits alone on a wooden bench in the Apollo Victoria Theatre. His legs sway with black ballet shoes tied to his feet as he plays with the same snowflake clip from thirteen years ago in his hands, his good luck charm. Dan’s nervous, to say the least. He’s never auditioned in front of proper directors before, and he’s absolutely terrified. 

Of falling and making a fool out of himself? Of course! But of rejection? It makes his stomach drop. This is his dream, right in front of him and he knows he just has to go for it or he will regret it for the rest of his life. 

“Howell, Daniel?” The door next to him opens, and Dan immediately stands up. Stood reading a clipboard is one of the producers of the show, Gus Lavendire. He looks Dan up and down and huffs, letting Dan inside the room. Inside is the director, Levi Hansen, sat reading what must be his profile in front of a desk with empty cups of coffee and pages upon pages of other profiles. The adrenaline starts to kick in, and he feels like he can't breathe.

“Afternoon, Daniel. Show us what you’ve got,” Levi says, not even paying attention to Dan, his eyes shifting through lines of more printed sheets of paper. Gus sits down and takes a sip of a half filled cup of coffee. 

“Yes, Alright, I-I, uh-” Dan quickly clips the snowflake onto his black jumper and pulls his phone out of his back pocket, opening his music app and turning his volume all the way up. Now or Never.

“Today I have prepared a short routine to a piano cover of Oh Wonder’s Landslide in F#.” Dan places his phone on the floor, takes a deep breath and presses play. There are five seconds of silence to let Dan get into a croise devant before the music begins. 

As soon as it does, Dan starts his routine. Spinning into arabesques and giving his all. Dan's practised this routine nearly one-hundred times a day for months on end and knows the dance entirely off by heart, but somehow he feels like he has only rehearsed once. 

Even if he continues dancing, It's like Dan was dying. His life flashing right before his eyes, remembering the first time he had told his mum that he wanted to do ballet. She looked so surprised, but never the less excited Dan found a passion and took him straight to the nearest dance studio. One of the best days of his life. 

Remembering this motivates Dan to push himself to the best he could do. He turns with his arms out in front of him and ends in an À la Quatrième Derrière. Once his dance was finished, His panting is the only sound filling the room, and frankly, he doesn't think the directors looked up from their pages once. They haven't even realised he had finished dancing. Dan coughs to grab the attention of the men and they finally look up at him tiredly. Bored.

“Oh, Um, Thank you for coming, Daniel.” They brush him off so quickly, motioning towards the door. Dan can't believe it. That's it, he didn't make it. He quickly grabs his phone and leaves the room in a hurry, wanting to go before he starts crying and making a bigger fool out of himself. 

He closes the door behind himself, before sliding to the floor in a pile and letting out a pent up sob, tears pouring out of his eyes as he shakily opens his phone and calls the only person he can.

“H-hey Lou? The audition went a-awfully. C-could we meet at Marves in five?”


	3. Marve's Cafe

Dan walks quickly through the city and tries not to make eye contact with anyone he passes, feeling exposed and a little scared that he will start crying again. Before long, he’s made it to the quiet small street that his favourite Cafe, Marve's, is wedged in. When he gets closer, he notices Louise sat outside at one of the tables. 

“Hey, Lou,” Dan says gently, approaching the table. She quickly spins around, a look of sadness spread across her face as she stands up with open arms. Dan quickly hugs her tightly, letting out a trapped sigh he's kept in since he left the theatre.

“Thanks for meeting me here” Dan sits down and places his bag between his feet on the ground. He feels so guilty for making her meet him on such short notice, but he can tell Lou doesn't mind because she loves to spend time with Him. She's like the big sister he never had.

“I know that look. Don’t feel guilty, we’ve been friends for years. If you ask me to meet you after a not so good audition, of course I will come to help cheer you up” Louise says, handing Dan one of the menus on the table. He softly thanks her and skims the list. He decides on his favourite Banana Berry Smoothie Bowl, and a Chai Latte and Louise choose the Corn Fritters and a Strawberry Milkshake. A server takes their order and comes back about Five minutes later with their drinks, then taking another five for their food to arrive, perfectly presented.

Somehow when Dan starts eating, it doesn’t have as much flavour as it used to, As if all his taste buds have died with his mood. 

“So, tell me what happened,” Louise asks, sipping her drink and looking at dan's emotionless face as he spoons the melting smoothie into his mouth. He sighs and places his spoon down.

“They didn’t even look at me, Lou. they completely ignored me” Dan's eyes start watering immediately as he thinks about what had occurred in that room, and soon enough they’re cascading down his soft pink cheeks. “Its like they had just given up looking for someone to take the role” he sniffles, looking down at the black pointe shoes tied to his duffle bag.

“Oh, honey…” Louise coos, holding Dan's hand on the table to comfort him. Dan can’t help but cry more, thankfully no one else around to notice. Louise keeps running her thumb over dan's knuckles while she says “that’s not right. You should contact them again and ask for another go. I know how much this means to you and if I have to storm in there and force their eyes open, I’ll do it.” 

Dan chuckles and wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his free hand, sniffling and starting to breathe clearly again. “ I know you would. Thank you, Lou.” Dan smiles weakly at her. She smiles softly back, and they continue eating and occasionally talking when they felt necessary. The silence doesn't really bother them, they've known each other for so long that silence is just as comforting as speaking, just having someone in your company is warming enough to stop a mind from racing. 

 

“Feeling better?” Louise asks after they had finished eating. Dan nods and reaches for his wallet before she stops him. “No, no. It’s on me. My treat. You really deserve it” she says, standing up with her bag and wallet out, pulling her credit card out and waiting for Dan to stand up. Dan picks his duffle bag and phone up and hugs her goodbye, thanking her for the food.

“Just text me when you get home if you need anything else just let me know” she requests. Dan smiles weakly again and nods. Louise smiles back and waves as she walks into the store to pay. Dan takes a deep breath and treads away from the cafe, back towards the main street and towards the tube. 

Dan is fiddling with his headphones as he walks, feeling that feeling of uselessness building up in his chest, and he’s crying again. Dan just wants to slide to the floor and sleep, but before he can react, he slams face first into another person walking down the empty street, making them drop their wallet.

“Oh god, i-i’m so sorry” Dan pulls his headphones out of his ears and wipes his eyes to look at the person he so rudely hit with his body. The tall black haired boy quickly bends down and picks up his wallet, then looks back up at Dan worryingly when he sees the tears. 

Now not only is dan crying, but he feels like he was going to pass out. he feels like he can't breathe, or like he was having an asthma attack. He hadn’t just run into a poor unsuspecting Londoner, he had run into Phil Lester, one of the best award-winning dancers, and also Vixon, the lead of 'The Storm in the Springtime’. 

And not to mention, Dan's idol since he was 13.

“Oh no, Are you alright? Did I hurt you?” Phil asks, concerned by hoe Dan was continuing to cry. Dan can’t even form a sentence to say and trips on his tongue.

Instead of sticking around to make a bigger idiot out of himself, he quickly runs off down the street and towards the tube and down to the platforms, jumping on the train that had just arrived and cramming himself against one of the doors, so no other passengers could see the waterworks. He exhaustedly knocks his head against the closed door of the train as his body trembles with anxiety, just wanting to be home already.


	4. Reprise for the Famous

He doesn't leave his house for days, mainly staying in bed and feeling sad and empty. He feels like he’s overreacting, but Louise keeps telling him that he has a right to be upset, but hopefully, they will give him a second chance to dance.

Dan finds himself scrolls through his Instagram, three days after his audition under his blankets. He doesn’t like or save anything, just watching the pointless DIY videos to try and ignore feeling lonely. Then, Abruptly breaking his stare, an email pops up on his Gmail. Intrigued by it, he opens it up and looks at the sender's name. 

'Levi Hanson' 

Dan quickly sits up in his bed and scrolls down to the email. 

'Daniel,   
Thank you for reaching out to us again. We apologise for not giving you our full attention for your first audition, and are willing to let you dance for us once more. We have an opening at 11:40 am Today, Thursday the 16th of May. If you are unable to attend, let us know, and we can reschedule. We hope to see you soon. 

-Levi'

Dan looks over to his side table and at his small digital clock. The time reads 10:58 am. Dan starts to panic, he doesn’t know if he could make it in time. But he quickly jumps out of his bed, tripping over his duvet but continuing to brush his hair and brush his teeth. Dan looks decent-ish. 

He rushes out of his bathroom and downstairs to where his laundry is, pulling on a clean jumper and pair of his dancing pants. Once he had gotten everything on, he slips some runners on, picks up his dance duffle bag, phone, wallet and keys and runs out of the house, hoping he hadn’t left any appliance on in the apartment that could start a fire. 

Dan dashes for the bus stop at the end of his street, looking around for any sign of that obnoxious red of the double deckers. But, he quickly grows impatient and runs down the road as fast as he could, nearly bumping into more and more people as he tries to get to the tube station as quickly as he could. He finally gets to the main road and almost trips down the stairs to the underground, but he swipes his oyster card and bolts for platform 2.

When dan finally gets to the platform, there’s already a train there, and its doors are closing. He barely makes it in before the doors slam shut and the train is speeding off. Surprisingly the train is nearly empty with many available seats, so he sits down next to the door and can finally catch his breath for another couple of minutes. 

He checks the time on his phone, and it just ticked over to 11:30. He has only 10 minutes to get there. 

As soon as the train pulls up to Victoria station, he starts running again. He runs down the platform to the exit and swipes his oyster card to get out again. He doesn't stop though, he weaves through the crowds of tourists and businessmen and women to get out of the station. But finally, he gets out and runs across the busy but not moving street to the theatre. He pants and heaves as he walks inside looking up at the clock in the entrance. 11:37. He just made it. 

Dan walks through the theatre and down to where the rehearsal spaces are, slumping down on the same wooden bench and breathing heavily. He’s so glad he made it on time, and with enough time to get his shoes on. Dan pulls them out of his bag and slips off his runners, replacing them with the Black silk pointe shoes on his feet and tying the matching ribbon around his ankle. He also notices his drink bottle was in his bag and feels blessed by gods because he was about to pass out otherwise. He pops the cap and gulps down nearly the entire thing.

“You look like you just ran a marathon” someone chuckles from next to him. Dan laughs as well, putting his bottle back in his bag.

“Yeah, I just ran a mile to get here on- t-time...” Dan looks up at the person next to him, and his heart stops. It’s Phil again, he’s here. Why is Phil here?! Why not, he is the lead of the show. But why was Phil here next to dan? And does he remember him? Hopefully not…

“Hey, didn't I run into you the other day? Are you ok,? You kind of just ran off crying, I hope I didn’t hurt you” Phil asks, looking concerned at the pink-cheeked boy.

shit. 

“O-oh, yeah. Sorry about that, i-i just had a not very good day, it wasn’t your fault at all…” Dan mumbles, remembering how rudely he ran off on him. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Phil says, sitting down next to Dan. “ I’m Phil by the way” Phil introduces himself. Dan chuckles. 

“Yeah, I know. That’s kind of why I ran off as well, I’m kind of a big fan-” 

“Daniel Howell?” Levi opens the door next to where both boys were sitting. Dan quickly stands up and grabs his bag.

“Yes, I’m here!” Dan says, walking into the room and placing his bag down again, setting up his music.

“Oh! Phil, what are you doing here?” Levi asks. Dan turns around and notices them talking, but dan concentrates on setting up his music again. He hears the door close, and he turns back to the table and sees Phil sitting there now. He feels like he was going to pass out. 

“I-I'd just like to say thank you for allowing me to audition for you again, I really appreciate it” dan thanks, Levi. he also just realised that Gus wasn’t even present this time. “I will be re-performing Landslide by Oh Wonder” he places his phone on the ground once more, and presses play, and he starts the routine exactly how he did the last. Spinning into arabesques and giving his all just as hard as the first. He spins with his arms out in front of him and ends in an À la Quatrième Derrière, but this time, there’s clapping, a proper applaud, from Phil Lester himself.

“Thank you, Daniel, you can wait outside,” Levi says again, looking deeply thoughtful. Dan nods and quickly picks his bag and phone up and leaves, closing the door behind him.


	5. Blind To Talent

“What was that about?” Phil asks angerly. Levi looks up at Phil with a scrunched up nose and rolling his eyes.

“He’s only 18, Phil, he’s inexperienced” He sighs. Phil swiftly snatches Dan's profile from Levi's hands and reads through it, his eyes highlighting things like ‘won 12 championships with a 4.0 average, highest out of every student at the academy.’

“Have you even read his profile?! He may be young, but I am too! He’s fucking fantastic, Levi. are you blind?” Phil snaps at him. Levi looks a little shocked by how aggressive Phil is acting.

“You’re 22 Phil, that's different” Levi sighs, packing his laptop away, attempting to leave as soon as possible.

“Oh really? How. How is it different? Because I’m telling you right now, I just saw a perfect performance without any slips, and you're being a stuck up bitch, just because he’s 18. Give him a chance. We all start somewhere, don’t we?” Phil softens, feeling guilty for yelling, but also hoping he got his point across. Levi looks at him astounded, but he sighs again and stops packing up. He slumps back down in the uncomfortable seat behind him and looks Phil dead in the eye.

“What’s so special about Daniel?” Levi asks, curious and a little tired of Phil's attitude. 

“Couldn’t you see the amount of passion he was putting into that dance? I don’t know may 18-year-olds that can dance like that. His stage presence is fantastic, and I can tell that this means a lot to him just by the way he was putting the amount of emotion into his dance. Give him a chance Levi. Please.”

 

Dan can hear muffled shouting from outside the room. He gulps, his fingers twitching as he takes his pointe shoes off and replaces them with his runners once more. After waiting another five minutes, both Levi and Phil come out of the room, with Phil looking surprisingly bright and Levi a little annoyed. 

“Congratulations Daniel, I am giving you the understudy role of River. You will begin training with Phil tomorrow, I hope you make me proud”, and just like that, Levi simply leaves with his laptop and papers. Dan couldn’t believe it, he looks at Phil with huge eyes, trying to form a sentence before he starts crying, holding his head in his hands.

“I-i don’t understand, i-i’m playing River?” Dan asks, not believing it's real. Phil smiles and nods, opening his arms to give Dan a hug, that he gladly takes and sobs happily into Phil, clutching him tightly. 

“You had something to do with this, d-didn’t you?” Dan asks. Phil chuckles “maybe a little”, and Dan just hugs him tighter, laughing and sniffling while Phil chuckles and pats his back.


	6. Flipping Hearts

That night when Dan got home, he called Lou to tell her the great news, and she literally screams into the receiver, overjoyed for Dan. They skype call for a couple of hours, excitedly talking about how Dan will be dancing with Phil, mainly Lou laughing by the fact that Dan actually Ran somewhere, but also being shocked by Phil being a lovely human being and helping him get the role. But before long, they start getting tired, Louise says goodnight and Dan lays in bed…

Wide awake. 

He can’t sleep, still so ecstatic that he got the role. He knows it’s not the proper role, but understudy is still just as great. He can’t wait for the next day, to be dancing with his Idol professionally and it makes his heart do that flippy thing. 

Unfortunately, it also makes him feel a little sick. Mainly from overthinking about how Phil cares about him enough to help him land the understudy, and the butterflies won't calm down in his stomach, but also because he's never been the best with partners in dancing. Usually, the relationship becomes toxic quickly due to jealousy or different viewpoints and sometimes got ugly. 

He hopes to god it wouldn't ever happen with Phil. he's too kind to do that.

As Dan is about to slip off into sleep, a notification pops up on his phone. A text message, from a number he doesn’t recognise. 

Hey, is this Daniel?

It’s Phil, the guy from today :) 

Dan giggles a little and starts typing back.

Dan: oh yeah, I remember you. How did you get my number?

Phil: I’m psychic 

Phil: I’m just kidding, I got it from your Profile Resume thing, I hope you don’t mind :/

Dan: oh no that’s ok! It’s probably better that we do have each other's contacts so we can plan out times to meet.

Phil: speaking of! Levi told me to remind you that rehearsals start at 8 am tomorrow. I hate early mornings, lol.

Dan: same, but I’m excited to start dancing with you.

Phil: me too! Honestly, I’m kind of a big fan ;)

Dan: oh god forget I said that I’m so sorry.

Phil: no it’s alright, I thought it was nice to know at least someone enjoys my work :)

Dan: of course, you’re very talented :))

Phil: so are you! :)))

Phil: I’ll see you tomorrow at 8 :))))

Dan: lol goodnight


	7. Early-Morning Dancing

He wakes up at 7am, ready and raring to start the day. It’s unusual for dan to be awake but anything for dancing. When he gets up, he takes a quick shower, brushes his teeth and changes into a graphic tee that has The great wave of Kanagawa on the front and some matching blue leggings. He rushes downstairs to quickly eat a banana and pack his dance bag with a towel, a full drink bottle, his pointe shoes and a granola bar as a snack. Once everything was ready for the long day ahead, he slips his runners on, pulls a black and white jacket on, shoves his wallet and phone in the coat pockets and leaves with his keys in his hand. For once he was running on time, and not running for his life down busy London streets.

The train trip is pretty dull, not many people in any of the seats again, but he doesn’t mind. He slips his headphones in and listens to his favourite Spotify playlist that mainly consists of Charlie XCX and Ariana Grande to pass the time. When the train arrives at Victoria Station, Dan jumps off and makes his way out towards the Apollo Victoria Theatre and walks around to the stage door.

When he walks inside, he is met with the dimly lit hallway where all the dance/rehearsal spaces are located. He looks around cautiously, looking out for anyone and especially Phil.

He keeps walking down the hallway until he reaches the last room. Its door is open, and the sound of feet is heard inside. So, he carefully pushes the door open and steps inside. Sat on the floor stretching his legs out completely is Phil. when he notices Dan had entered, he greets him with a smile. 

“Good morning, Dan!” he grins. Dan smiles and replies with a smile “morning” before sitting down next to Phil and opens his duffle bag to pull out his shoes. 

“You have fascinating shoes. They’re beautiful” Phil compliments as dan starts taking off his runners and preparing his feet to put the pointe shoes on. 

“T-thank you. I really like yours too. Blue shoes are very rare” Dan replies with a soft smile as he then ties the ribbon around his ankles and stretches his feet as well. 

“Black is very unique too. I’ve not seen many people who use them. But that snowflake clip makes them look more elegant” Phil points to the little snowflake on his shoe. 

“Y-yeah. That’s my lucky charm, it’s kind of stupid, but it just brought me lots of great opportunities” Dan explains.

“I don't think it’s stupid at all” Phil replies. He reaches back for his own duffle bag and pulls out a crystal Flower clip, very similar to Dan’s. “This is mine. My mum gave it to me when I was little. Brings me luck as well” he smiles, clipping it to his own blue pointe shoe. Dan watches and can't but smile fondly. 

“Alright, let’s begin our exercises. Levi has given me a list of things he wants us to work on together, and we will work up to blocking the dances” Phil says suddenly, pulling himself to his own feet and helping dan to his. 

They begin on the beam, stretching their legs out and working on balance together, helping each other to lift their legs over their heads to loosen their joints a bit more. They do this for about an hour while getting to know each other a bit better. Phil asking where he learnt to dance, Dan says Wokingham Performance and Dance Studio from age five till only a year ago. Then Dan asks what Phil’s favourite performance was. He says it definitely has to be when he was playing as the Nutcracker last year. Dan says he saw him perform it live and said he thought he was fantastic. It makes Phil smile shyly but says thank you.  
After Stretches, it was on to practice. They take turns practising types of pointed spins and jumps, giving each other positive feedback before they got to work together. 

“I’m really sorry if I step on your feet, I’m not always good with a partner..” dan apologises as he stands in front of Phil in the centre of the room. Phil just grins cheekily. 

“I’ll probably be the one stepping on you, I should be the one apologising” Phil jokes. It makes dan laugh a little before watching Phil grab the booklet of directors notes and plan to follow. Phil's eyes flicker over all the writing and illustrations and throws it back down on the floor. 

“Seems like we need to do some duet arabesques, Penche and Grand Jete’s today. Let's see how we go” Phil says, holding his hands out to hold Dan's. Dan hesitantly places his hands in Phil’s and get into their first positions. They move closer towards each other until their chests are touching and their hands are held out beside their bodies. 

Phil counts them in and spins dan around, letting both boys swan dive gracefully into a simple Penche, then pouncing into a grand jete. Phil somehow is able to exactly mirror dan, he notices this in the mirror beside him. They grab each other's hands again before doing an arabesque and repeat another eight times. 

By the end of the practice, they’re panting from all the jumping constantly and decide to take a break before repeating again, changing a few moves around and even beginning to work on incorporating sissonne attitude into the simplistic dance they’ve prepared. 

Somehow the day flies by in that small rehearsal room, and it already reaches 6:30pm. When Levi walks in, he catches them on the floor reading ahead of schedule. 

“You guys are still here?” he asks, walking in and looking down at them. Both boys quickly stand up straight and explain how they've been working on a dance already and seem to work together quite well. 

“Could we possibly show you what we’ve worked on so far?” Phil asks politely. Levi sighs deeply before sitting in one of the plastic chairs in the corner of the room. Dan and Phil get into position and perform the entire dance they’ve worked out together. They don’t step on each other, or trip over one another, perfectly landing each step and not being out of time.

This time, Levi watches with an impressed look on his face. When they finish, he gives them a half-hearted clap and stands up, heading back towards the door. “Good work, boys. I’ll see you tomorrow” he says, leaving the room with the door slamming behind him.

“Probably a good time to finish up for today, eh?” Phil chuckles as they head over to their bags and taking their pointe shoes off, getting back into their regular running shoes and drinking from their almost empty bottles. 

“Great work today, Dan. I think we will do fantastically together” Phil smiles, picking his bag up and holding the door for dan who walks out with his own bag.

“T-thank you, I think so t-too” dan spatters again, only making Phil chuckle again. He pats Dan's back comfortingly and says goodbye before they part their ways to head back home. 

Or rather, Dan running home to call Louise about his day.


	8. Such a Tease

“We held _Hands _Lou” Dan giggles like a little girl, watching his computer screen with Louise's face on facetime, while she starts giggling as well. It was around 9pm when Dan had finally gotten ahold of Lou and could call her.__

____

“You basically had ballet sex” she jokes. Dan feels the heat build in his cheeks and ears.

____

“D-Don’t say that! That not what we did at all!” dan defends, noticing how flustered he looks in his small viewfinder on the screen. Louise just laughs harder.

____

“Ballet Sex, Dan. you guys are married now. Congratulations!” she continues, making dan hide his face in his hands.

____

“We aren’t even- ugh, Louise, why have you got to ruin nice moments like these” Dan frowns, only making her laugh even harder like she couldn’t breathe.

____

“Because you’re so in love with him it’s sickening! Is he blind or something? It’s not like he’s dating anyone anyway.” Louise raises her eyebrows at dan and smirks. 

____

“Phil’s not blind. H-he’s just my friend. Anyway, you can never tell him about my weirdo creep… _crush _on him… Swear it.”__

______ _ _

“Don’t trust me on that… but I pinky promise” she grins, holding her pinky finger up. Dan just rolls his eyes and says goodbye. She replies goodnight as well before hanging up.

______ _ _

Dan gets up from his desk and flops back against his duvet, getting comfortable against the pillows and feeling the butterflies again as soon as he thinks about dancing with Phil once more tomorrow.

______ _ _


	9. Interrupted

“What made you decide to wear pointe shoes and not normal canvas shoes by the way?” Phil asks as they stretch their legs on a wooden beam next to the floor to ceiling mirrors, with some other minor characters in the show.

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t like the way they felt on my feet. They just didn’t work for me, I prefer being higher on my toes. Makes me look more graceful, you know?” Dan explains. Phil smiles and nods.

“Exactly the same with me. There’s just something about feeling like you’re elegantly floating, instead of just standing casually. A lot of men can dance fantastically with normal flats but, not me. Or you, I suppose. But I think it’s just a unique quality to have. Like our shoe colours” Phil continues. Dan nods and giggles a little after they continue to pull funny faces at each other while they warm up and begin working on the dances.

Tuesday goes about the same. Not that it's a bad thing, not at all. But with every new day, they improve and grow closer as good friends. 

_Until Wednesday. ___

__“Good morning everyone. I’d like you to be introduced to the official lead of River!” Levi enters the room in the morning just as everyone starts setting up. Dan and Phil look up towards the door._ _

__“This is Freddie Boss. He will be training with you all from now on” Levi allows the tall, dark-haired boy to enter the room. He stands straight and tall with a glare that pierced right through your soul. He walks over towards the two boys on the floor._ _

__“You’re Phil, my partner right?” he asks. Phil stands up and shakes his hand._ _

__“Yeah, nice to meet you Freddie” Phil smiles genuinely. Freddie then looks over at Dan who is now standing as well._ _

__“And you’re Dan. I don’t know why they set me an understudy but _whatever. _Show me what you’ve done so far so I can take over.” Freddie throws his bags to the ground and sits down, putting his plain pink pointe’s on. Both dan and Phil look down jaw dropped by his rudeness.___ _

____“Come on then! _Chop chop! _” Freddie snaps. Dan gulps and quickly finishes tying his ribbons before standing in their beginning position with Phil. to the sound of a metronome, they begin dancing, following the exact routine they've been rehearsing since day one. They land with a Grand Jete and stand still in their final position.___ _ _ _

______“Little pathetic, but I can make it better. You can probably leave, Dave. We’ll just show you once we’re finished” Freddie stands and carefully pulls dan away from Phil, taking his place._ _ _ _ _ _

______“His name is _Dan. _” Phil interrupts. Freddie ignores Phil and looks back at dan.___ _ _ _ _ _

________“You’re still here?” he asks. Dan feels the tears pricking in his eyes and turns around, grabbing his bags and leaving the room in a hurry, not looking back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He reaches the exit of the theatre where there’s a lone bench. He sits down and breathes in deeply, trying to bring his heart rate back down to normal. He wipes his eyes with his sleeves and takes his points off and replaces them with his runners once more._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Dan?” a voice calls from the end of the hall. Dan looks up and notices Phil walking towards him. “Hey, are you ok? That was really uncalled for of Freddie to say that to you” he gently caresses dan's arm when he gets close enough. Dan lets out a shaky sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No-no it’s fine. I shouldn’t take it personally. It’s just, work.” Dan gives Phil the fakest smile as visible tears start filling his eyes. He turns around before they pour out and pushes through the exit out to the ally behind the theatre. Dan tells himself to stop being pathetic and stop crying over something so small, so he wipes his eyes again and heads back to the train station._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________When he heads back upstairs to his room, he doesn't leave his bed for 24 hours, _until he gets another text. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _


	10. Dim Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she returns

His phone lights up his dark room, blinding him a little as he squints to reach for it. Once his eyes focus on the name of the person who sent it, he feels the surprise settle and his stomach drop.

Phil Leste: Hey, Dan. I’m really sorry...

He quickly unlocks his phone to see the message in full. 

Phil: Hey, Dan. I’m really sorry about how Freddie treated you, it was really uncalled for. 

Phil: could you meet me at 34/8 Botanic Ave at 12pm tomorrow?

Dan looks at the question with surprise, Phil was asking him to go somewhere? Hopefully not to murder him… but he could care less right now, so he types a quick-

Dan: Yeah I can do that, thank you

Phil: no problem, I think we both need a break from that hell trap :)


	11. Botanic Ave

Dan wakes up early to meet Phil, bringing his dance bag and his slippers to the address Phil gave him. He looks at the text as he walks down Botanic Ave until he reaches 34. It seems to be 8 modern apartments, where number 8 is at the very back of a concrete driveway. Dan cautiously walks down to the very end of the driveway and up to the large door, wondering if he was in the right place.

Before long, the door opens and just on the other side of the black wooden door, was Phil's bright face wearing his glasses and some loose clothes.

"Dan! I'm so glad you could make it! Welcome to my private dance studio" Phil welcomes him warmly. Dan blushes and nods, the butterflies in his stomach returning as Phil leads him into the studio.

"What do you think?" Phil asks, walking them into a sizeable lively space, large floor to ceiling windows with beautiful green trees on the other side, and what seems to be a greenhouse a few metres away from the hidden glass door in the windows. The room is large with full-length mirrors, and ballet barre's along the opposite side, and the floor is covered in a black dance mat, it seems to be worn from intensive dancing. 

"I-it's incredible, Phil!" Dan says in awe, spinning around and seeing the posters from the shows he's been in, and all the trophies and medals he has won from competitions.

"Thank you, I'm glad you like it." Phil smiles. "But the reason I brought you here wasn't to show off my studio." 

"Yeah, why did you want me to come?" dan questions, meeting Phils eyes once more. 

"Freddie is a pain to rehearse with, I'm going, to be honest. And you're a lot better dancer than he is. I still can't understand why they refuse to let you lead as a main. And not only that but the way he talked to you the other day? That pissed me right off." Phil explains. Dan nods, and his cheeks start burning again.

"So, what do you say? Would you like to practice with me again?" Phil asks. Dan smiles softly and nods, dropping his bags to the floor and putting his slippers on.

They dance to the music of the show for hours, the day coming and going in what only feels like a couple minutes, but being close to Phil can feel like that. They spin in the now moonlight of the studio, carefully following rehearsed steps until it's on point and they're out of breath on the studio floor, laughing.

"We did well" dan pants, making Phil laugh with a winded sigh.

"I think we did too" he smiles, moving closer to dan on the cold floor as they begin breathing smoother.


	12. Those Damn Butterflies.

When Dan arrives back in his warm home, he has a smile plastered on his face. He leans back against his closed door and grins, his stomach fluttering with excitement and his cheeks burning with a passion. 

God the way that man can make him melt. 

Dan changes out of his worn clothes and into his pyjamas, then lays back on his bed, feeling ecstatic still just from dancing with Phil.

As he gets ready for bed, Dan starts reading his book. He flicks through the soft pages of the romance and reads the same feelings he feels for Phil. And he wonders if he would ever feel the same about Dan. 

But like he was reading Dan's mind, he gets a text. 

Phil Lester: Thanks for today~

He opens his phone quickly to read the full message. 

Phil: Thanks for today, Freddie really gets on my nerves, but you're more delightful to hang around. I hope we can do it again sometime soon!

Dan smiles, the butterflies returning.

Dan: no, thank you for getting me out of the house, I've been feeling a little down about the whole thing, but you made me feel a lot better by dancing with me.

Phil: yeah, I had a feeling. If I had a say in casting, I'd make you River. You're still a better dancer than Freddie, and a much more beautiful person as well. 

Phil: I'm heading to bed, I'll talk to you tomorrow! Have a good night!

Dan: you too!

Dan squeals, feeling overjoyed by the fact Phil would pick Dan over Freddie. 

_Maybe the chances of Phil liking him are more likely than he thought... ___

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on my other social media-  
> Instagram; @BitterSweetJenna  
> Twitter; @BitterSweetJenn  
> Tumblr; BitterSweetJenna.tumblr.com


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